Just Another Yule Ball
by Bree Rose Namet
Summary: "How can you skip in those heels?" "Years of practice." Daphne's dating Theo, but drama ensues at the Yule Ball. A/U, set in HBP. Two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This my first time posting anything in a year and a half. Please don't hate me. I don't even have a good reason for it, so I'm really really sorry! I'm going to be posting more regularly from now on, I swear.**

**Anyway. This is a kind of AU Harry Potter two-shot, set in Half Blood Prince. It's eventual Daphne/Blaise with some other pairings, which I really don't want to say because it'll give away the story. Just a little Christmas story at the totally wrong time of year, I know, but hey. First plotbunny in over a year, I'm not gonna push it away! On with the story, hope you guys enjoy.**

**~ Bree**

**Disclaimer: If I were J.K. Rowling, would I really be posting on FanFiction? (Hint: the answer's no.)**

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"I'm so excited! This is so exciting! Aren't you guys excited?" my best friend, Pansy Parkinson, babbles as she skips down the corridor in 6-inch stilettos. After much begging and pleading, the professors (namely, Dumbledore and McGonagall) agreed to revive the Yule Ball for fourth-years and above.

"Slow down, tiger!" I laugh, twining my fingers with Theodore Nott's, my boyfriend of three months (and my crush of a lot longer). "How can you skip in those heels?"

"Years of practice," she calls over her shoulder. Her date, a dark-skinned Slytherin named Blaise Zabini, smiles good naturedly as he walks after her. He and Pansy aren't dating, but they make quite a striking pair nonetheless. As we walk into the Entrance Hall, a loud group of Gryffindors comes down the marble staircase. I glance over at Draco Malfoy, smiling knowingly as he shoots a longing glance at the group. He won't admit it, but he`s been crushing on Hermione Granger since third year.

When we get to the Great Hall, bright light and loud music is spilling out of the doors; Professor Dumbledore booked the Weird Sisters again. We're not big on music in the Wizarding World, and we only have a couple of really good bands.

"This looks like fun," Blaise grins devilishly, rubbing his hands together. We all laugh at the expression on his face. "Would you like to dance, m'lady?" he asks, bowing low to Pansy and offering her his hand. Laughing, she grabs his hand, and they whirl off onto the dance floor.

Theo turns to me and smiles. "You look gorgeous," he says.

"Thanks," I blush, looking at my feet awkwardly.

"C'mon, let's dance. It's the whole point of the evening." He pulls me out onto the dance floor.

We dance for ages. Three times, we switch with Blaise and Pansy, who are kind of circling around the room, dancing with other people.

"Can we take a break?" I ask breathlessly a few songs later. Theo nods and we make our way off the dance floor, to one of the tables along the side. Soon, our sixth-year housemates join us; Blaise, Pansy, Draco, Tracey Davis, Lily Moon, Millicent Bulstrode, Crabbe, and Goyle. We chatter mindlessly for a little while.

I excuse myself to go to the bathroom, and as I make my way across the ballroom, Pansy calls after me, "Don't worry, I'll look after your boyfriend!" A few people turn to stare, and I blush deeply and hurry out into the hall.

"Hey babe, you're looking good," comes a voice from behind me as I'm walking back to the ballroom. I jump and whirl around to see Blaise standing there grinning at me.

"Don't _do_ that! You freaked me out!" I say sternly.

"So, how're things with Theo?" he asks. I shoot him a suspicious look, but he seems perfectly innocent.

"Great. They're great," I smile happily. "Better than I expected, actually, I mean we've lasted three months with no problems and… yeah. Why?" He shrugs, but his smile is getting a little forced. He fiddles with his cape and smoothes out nonexistent wrinkles in his shirt, avoiding my eyes. "_Blaise_…" I say warningly.

"Why don't we… er… go for a walk?" he says brightly. Without waiting for an answer, he grabs my hand, wraps it firmly around his arm and leads me outside.

"Blaise, what's going on?" I demand angrily. "Let go of me!" I wrench my arm from his grip. "Explain, Blaise Zabini, or I swear I'll…"

I'm saved the effort of making up a threat when a group of giggling fifth-year girls pass by. Blaise grabs my hand and pulls me back into the shadows on the edge of the building, but I can clearly hear the girls saying, "Did you hear? Theo and Pansy did _it_ last night!" "They're _totally_ back on." "I'm _so _jealous! Theo's, like, super hot!"

I slowly turn to face Blaise as the girls' voices fade away. He cringes away from the look on my face. "Did you know?" He doesn't respond, but the look on his face tells me everything.

I turn and run into the castle, past my classmates, and into the Great Hall. Theo and Pansy are sitting at the table where I left them, looking _much _too cozy. I storm up to them, the crowd parting in front of me. Theo and Pansy break apart and turn to look at the cause of commotion.

"Daphne, what –?" Theo asks, looking kind of scared.

"Is it true?" I ask quietly. Guilt is written across both of their faces, but for some reason I need to hear them say it. "_Is it true?!_"

Pansy nods tearfully. "_Bollocks_," Theo mutters.

"_Bollocks_ is right, Theodore Nott! We are done! You hear me? _DONE!_" I scream, slapping him hard across the face. "And you!" I whirl on my so-called 'best friend'. "We've been friends for six years! I defended you when people called you a Death Eater and a slut, I was there for you when your father got arrested…" Pansy looks like someone kicked her puppy or something. Well fuck her. "_This_ is how you repay me? You _bitch!_" I slap her too and run out of the ballroom, tears streaming freely down my cheeks.

"Daphne, wait!" Theo shouts, but I ignore him and run to the empty bathroom. I slide down onto the floor, pulling off my heels and throwing them at the wall across from me. I drop my head into my hands and sob.

After what seems like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, I hear the door creak open and then shut quietly. I ignore whoever it is, hoping she'll just go away, but I hear soft footsteps and a pair of fancy black _men's_ dress shoes stop in front of me. I glance up and Blaise is standing there, giving me a very sympathetic look.

I quickly turn away, glaring at the floor. He doesn't leave, and I wait for him to say something, but he just sits down next to me with his back against the wall. Very slowly, he puts an arm around my shoulders, and suddenly the tears come back in full force. I lean into him, sobbing into his shoulder, and he wraps both arms around me, hugging me tightly.

"How long have you known?" I mumble into his shoulder after a few minutes. I can feel him hesitate. "_How long?_"

"Tracey told me half an hour ago," he says finally. "I went to find you right afterwards."

I sigh, tracing absentminded patterns on his shoulder. "I thought he liked me."

Blaise takes longer to answer this time. When he does, I can tell he's trying to be careful how he phrases it. "I think he did like you," he says cautiously, "but guys like him… They don't exactly… you know…"

"They like girls like Pansy," I fill in bluntly, brushing away my tears.

"See, you and Pansy are both very attractive," Blaise continues, "but in different ways. Pansy has more of a…"

"Sexual beauty?" I say wryly.

He chuckles. "Yeah. But you're beautiful in a more subtle way, more natural, y'know." I push away the funny feeling I get in my stomach when he says I'm beautiful, not really sure what to say to that.

"Look, do you want to get out of here?" Blaise suggests after a few minutes. "I can take you home if you'd like."

"Thanks," I smile, making up my mind, "but I'd rather stick around for a while. Show him he hasn't got to me. Besides, it's our sixth year. I gotta live a little."

"Did Pansy tell you that?" Blaise laughs, standing up and helping me off the floor. I nod, grinning slightly. "Here," he says, handing me my heels.

"Thanks." I go over to the sinks and wash off my running mascara, pulling out my makeup bag from my purse and reapplying it. With one last glance in the mirror to make sure all signs of crying are gone, I tug on my shoes and take Blaise's proffered arm.

"Ready?" he asks. I take a deep breath, nod, and we walk back out of the bathroom, down the hall, and into the ballroom. Just as we walk through the doors, the band starts playing a slow song.

"May I have this dance, Daphne?" Blaise asks, bowing and extending his hand. Feeling eyes on us – people who witnessed the blow-up, no doubt – I smile as happily as I can manage and take his hand. He swoops me into his arms and wraps his arms around my waist. I wrap my arms around his neck and lean into his chest, closing my eyes and wishing none of it had happened.

When the song ends, a faster one comes on that I don't recognize, but we stay the way we are. I don't feel like I can manage opening my eyes and seeing my classmates' expressions, all of whom I'm sure will be on my ex-boyfriend's side despite the huge amount of popularity I've gained in the past three months and the fact that _he_ cheated on _me_.

A couple of hours later, Blaise and I are dancing in a group with Draco, Tracey, Lily, Millicent, Crabbe, and Goyle. Someone taps me on the shoulder and I turn around. I don't know who I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't Theodore.

"Hiya Daph. Y'know, I really am sorry. I make a horrible mistake, and you deserve so much better," he says. "I was wondering if you'd, maybe, fancy a dance?" I stare at him, analyzing his expression. On the surface, he looks pleading and apologetic, but something flickers across his face, and I realize that he's not really sorry. He just wants to look good in front of everyone else, to save face.

"Are you bloody gormless?" I demand. "I broke up with you. You. Cheated. On. Me. What makes you think I would even want to talk to you? Bugger off." I turn and storm out of the Great Hall.

"Daphne!" someone calls, and I turn to see Blaise running after me. "Are you okay?"

I pause, assessing my feelings as he catches up to me. "You know? I think I will be," I say giving him a small smile and taking his hand. We walk back to the dormitory in comfortable silence. I say goodnight and kiss him on the cheek, running off before he can say anything.

Okay, my life isn't exactly great right now. But I'm Daphne Greengrass; I'm going to be just fine, thank you very much.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here's part two! It's an epilogue, I guess. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Me no owno.**

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I eat breakfast with a happy smile on my face. That awful Yule Ball is long in the past, and in six hours' time, I'll officially be done my sixth year of Hogwarts.

"Daphne!" squeals Tracey Davis, shoving Draco over unapologetically and sitting down next to me. "Last day of school! Aren't you excited?"

I nod and smile, laughing as she proceeds to compete with Draco about who can eat the most pancakes. (Tracey wins. Draco stops after six, saying he's watching his figure.)

Ever since Theo cheated on me with my best friend, I've found myself onset with people who want to be my friend, both Slytherins and people from other houses. (Some want to replace Theo, but _those_ offers I politely refuse.) Tracey is the nicest of my new friends, and we've been hanging out quite a lot. After the Yule Ball, she switched seats with Pansy in all of our classes, when Pansy found herself unable to look me in the eye anymore. (I wonder why…)

"Hey ladies," comes a voice from behind me. Blaise squeezes into the seat next to me, tugging on my hair playfully. "Last day of school, you psyched?"

"Yup, not as much as Tracey though," I laugh. The girl in question is literally quivering with excitement.

"So Daph," Blaise grins, watching me finish my toast, "I was thinking tonight we could –"

"Zabini!" our Transfiguration teacher calls from the end of the table.

"Merlin, gotta go. McGonagall is still on my case, something about a Transfiguration essay I never handed in," Blaise sighs. He kisses my cheek and gets up, leaving me with Tracey.

My best friend gives me a look and gets up, pulling me into the Entrance Hall. "Merlin's beard, Daphne, spill!"

"What are you talking about?" I ask unnecessarily. Tracey has taken it upon herself to get me and Blaise together, and it's pretty much all she talks about, besides summer, boys, Quidditch, and fifty billion other things.

"What's going on with you and Blaise?" she asks, literally bouncing up and down.

"Trace, you asked me that yesterday," I remind her. "And the day before that, and the day before that. And what do I always say?"

"'We're just friends'," Tracey says, rolling her eyes. "But you _aren't!_ He was going to ask you out today, I'm _positive!_"

I sigh, giving her an affectionate, if slightly exasperated, smile. "We should get to class," I say.

I head down to the dungeons and Tracey follows behind me, grumbling under her breath. We're at the door of Snape's dungeon when Pansy goes running out, sobbing, her hair flying behind her.

"What's up with _her?_" I laugh. "Daddy cut off her allowance or something?" Tracey shrugs.

I sit down next to Tracey, Blaise right in front of us. Just as the bell rings, Blaise turns around in his seat and whispers, "Theo just broke up with Pansy in front of everyone."

Tracey gasps and we both turn in our seats to look at Theo, who's sitting in his usual seat in the back, giving no sign that he just broke up with anyone.

"It's about time," Tracey hisses at me, looking at Snape out of the corner of her eye. "He's _such_ an wanker!"

"I know, right?" I say rather half-heartedly. I'm still looking at Theo, and I take no notice of the weird look Blaise is giving me.

Theo's wanker-ness is only expanded in Tracey's eyes when he approaches me in the hall after our last class. Blaise and Draco are talking about plans for the summer, occasionally asking us for input. Theo walks up to us, looking quite nervous, although that may be because of the looks Blaise, Tracey, and Draco are giving him.

"Hiya Daphne," he smiles cautiously. "All right?"

"Bugger off," Tracey, Blaise, and Draco say in unison.

"No, guys, it's ok," I say, waving an impatient hand at them. "What is it, Theo?"

"I was just wondering…" He shoots my friends another nervous glance before saying quickly, as though to get it all out as fast as possible, "D'you want to do something tonight?"

I open my mouth to answer, but Blaise beats me to it. "With you?" he asks coldly. Theo nods carefully. "Alone?" Theo nods again. Blaise wraps an arm around my waist, taking me by surprise. "What do you think, Daphne?"

"I think…" I look at my friends, all standing up and defending me. I look at Theo, who cheated on me with my best friend, broke up with her after a few months, then came crawling back to me. I look at Blaise, who would never dream of doing anything like Theo. "Finally figured out what you're missing, have you?" I ask coldly. "I'm busy tonight, thanks."

"I think she'll be busy for quite a while, if you get my meaning," Blaise grins. He wraps his arm more securely around my waist.

If Theo looked disappointed before, now he just looks furious. "You… you…" He seems to have no words, instead punching Blaise in the face. Blaise's head falls back and hits the wall with a crack.

Blaise pulls away from me and lunges at Theo, but me, Tracey, and Draco all restrain him. He struggles for a few seconds, as does Theo when Crabbe, Goyle, and Terry Boot (a Ravenclaw in our year) rush out of the crowd that's gathered and restrain him too.

"What is going on here?" booms an authoritive voice. Professor Snape steps between Blaise and Theo, glaring at them both.

"It was Nott, sir," Draco pipes up. "He punched Blaise unprovoked."

The headmaster glances at Blaise's bloody nose and nods curtly. "Detention, Nott, and a letter will be sent home to your parents. That's the third time this month, isn't it?" he adds, giving Theo a scolding look over the edge of his glasses.

Theo nods reluctantly. "Yes, sir," he grumbles. Snape leads him away, and the crowd slowly disperses.

Tracey glances between me and Blaise, grabs Draco's arm, and pulls him down the hall.

"So…" Blaise gives me a hopeful look. "I hope I wasn't overstepping when I said you'd be busy…"

He looks so uncomfortable that I giggle, taking pity on him. "Are you trying to ask me out, Blaise Zabini?" I grin.

"Uh… yeah." I burst out laughing, jumping up and wrapping my arms around his neck, burying my face in his shoulder. "That was a yes," I giggle.

I hear a triumphant shriek from down the hall, and Tracey comes running, followed by Draco, who's walking at a much more respectable pace. "I knew it! I knew it!" Tracey squeals. "I told you so, didn't I? Didn't I say he'd ask you out?" Blaise looks uncomfortable and Draco looks amused.

"Yeah, you did," I say, shaking my head at how happy she is.

"Well, we're gonna go celebrate! Come on!" Tracey grabs my hand and tugs me off down the hall, Draco and Blaise following us to our dormitories. "School's out, Blaise and Daphne are dating, _and_ Daddy said he'd get me a new broom!"

Draco, Blaise, and I exchange amused looks, glancing over at where Tracey's shiny Nimbus 2004 leans carelessly against a wall.

"Oh, this is gonna be a great summer…"


End file.
